ourtiss



(No Model.) 4 SheetsSheet 1.

W. 13. GURTISS.

MACHINE FOR BENDING AND FORMING WIRE. No 333,112. Patented Dec. 29', 1335.

4 Sheets Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

.W. B. OURTISS.

MACHINE 30R BBNDING AND FORMING WIRE.v

No. 333 1'12. Patented Dec. 29; 1885.

hu him wmin acn, u. c.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

- W; B. GURTISS.

I MACHINE FOR BENDING AND FORMING WIRE.

Patented Dec. 29, 1885'.

n PETERS, Fho O-Ulhcgraphlr. Wuhingion, n. a 1

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

W. B. GURTISS.

MACHINE FOR BENDING AND FORMING WIRE.

Patented Db Nor. 333,112.

ag/A til N. PETERS, PhclwLilhnnnpher. Washinglnn, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE.

WILLIAM B. CURTISS, OF DANBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO IVILLIAM B. CURTISS & CO.,

or SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR BENDING AND FORMING WIRE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 333,112, dated December 29, 1885.

Application filed October 1, 1885. Serial No. 178,715.

To all whom it may concern.-

. Be it known that LWILLIAM B. CURTISS,Of Danbury, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Bending and Forming Wire, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,where Figure 1 is a front view of my improved 1c machine with the shears removed. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same. looking from the right side, as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail top view of the horn and the shear-arm. Fig. 4. is a detail view, on enlarged scale, 1 of the forked connection between the sleeveoperating lever of the ovaling mechanism and the cam on the cam-shaft. Fig. 5 is a view in central vertical longitudinal section of the machine on the plane denoted by line :0 x of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a View in vertical cross section of the machine on a plane passing through the axis of the horn and quill and on the plane denoted by lineyy of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 isa detail view, on enlarged scale in cross-section, through the horn on the plane denoted by line y 3 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a detail top view, on enlarged scale, of the outer end of the horn. Fig. 9 is a detail top view, on enlarged scale, of the outer end of the sleeve. Fig. 10 is a detail side View, on enlarged scale, of one of the grip-roll levers. Fig. 11 is a detail top view of the latter. Fig. 12 is a detail top view of the slide bearing the bending roll and cam. Figs. 13 and 14 are detail top views of 3 5 the guiderolls. Fig. 15 is an end view of the horn, on enlarged scale,with connected parts. Fig. 16 is a detail view in vertical section of the end of the horn, showing an alternate bending device. Fig. 17 is a detail top view of the latter part with parts cut away in horizontal section to show construction. Fig. 18 is a detail sectional view of the lever belonging to the oscillating mechanism, and of the cam-shaft and cam by which it is moved. 5,5 Fig. 19 is a detail view in plan of the index device for setting the feed-rolls in position to run through a given length of wire.

My within-described invention relates to the class of machines used for bending and forming wire; and it consists, mainly, in imery of the wheel B.

(No model.)

provements on the machineforming the subject-matter of United States Letters Patent N 0. 283,327, granted to me August 14., 1883, and in details, as more particularly hereinafter described and claimed.

The machine as a whole consists of a supporting frame, with several rotary shafts bearing feed-rolls, intermeshing cog-wheels, and cams operating on levers and like parts, making up the automatic device for feeding wire into and through the machine from a coil, and the several mechanisms for bending, forming, shaping, and cutting the Wire thus supplied, and these several devices are so combined and arranged in one structure as to be capable of performing their respective functions in a measure independently or in co-operation, and the parts are capable of ad justment with relation to the individual and also to the collective action of the several mechanisms.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A denotes the frame of the machine as awhole; A, a shaft journaled lengthwise of the frame in suitable bearings and below the table A 7 5 A a pulley fast to one end of the shaft and adapted to receive a belt from a counter-shaft from which the machine is driven. At the 0pposite end of the machine this shaft A bears a cog-Wheel, A, that isin mesh with the gear wheel B of the dwell mechanism B. This gear-wheel B is fast to the end of the shaft B, that is journaled in bearings in the frameparallel to the shaft A, and it bears a'cam, B formed on the side of the disk B that is fast 8 5 t0 the shaft, and this cam, in the rotation of the shaft B moves the lever c, that is fast to a vertical shaft that bears the shear-arm and shears of the cut-off mechanism C. This shaft B also bears a cam-disk, B that operates the lever 0 that closes the shears. This shaft. B of the shear-operating mechanism is driven whenever the shaft A is turned; but the cogwheel D is so arranged that it meshes with the outer half of the gear-wheel B, and is 5 driven intermittingly by the rotation of the latter, the times and extent of the pause in the motion of the wheel D being determined by the length of the portion cut from the periph- This dwell mechanism is precisely similar in construction and operation to that shown in my prior patent above referred to.

.The cog-wheel D-is fast to the outer end of the shaft D, that is journaled in the frame in a line parallel to the other shafts, and bears the cam D in the periphery of which is formed the cam-groove D". On the end of the shaft D, near the pulley A is fast a cog-wheel, D, that is in mesh with the cog-wheel c, that is fast to the rolldriving shaft E. The latter'is mounted in a bearing in a standard or block fast to the upper side of the table A and it has a rotary movement only in the bearings, the collar on one end and the cog-wheel e on the other serving to hold it against any end wise play. Thereis a rectangular opening through the center of the shaft E, and in it a spindle, e, fits closely and has a sliding end wise play. In the forward end of this spindle e is formed a groove, by means of which it is attached to the uprightf, that is fast to the feed-roller frame F. This feed-roller frame is mounted in the lengthwise channel a that has undercut sides that grasp the dovetailed tenon on the bottom of the frame F. The feedscrew G is held at its outer end in a block, a, fast to the table, so that it will rotate freely, but will not move endwise, and its inner end takes into a nut, f, fast to the forward end of the frame F, and as this feedscrew is rotated the frame is moved along the table, the end of the screw entering the socketf in the lower part of the frame, and the spindle e sliding within the shaft E. This frame F supports the tapered feed-rolls H H, that are borne on the short shafts h and h, respective ly. The latter are supported at their opposite ends in the blocks it, h, h and h, that are each held between the upright arms 2" of the vertical standards '5, that rise from the frame, the arms 13 fitting in grooves formed in the sides of the bearing-blocks. The projecting end of the shaft 71 bears a knob, h, that is rectangular in cross-section, with sides that curve lengthwise of the shaft, and this knob fits into a rectangular socket, 6, formed on the end of the spindle e and opening toward the roller-shaft. This forms a clutch that communicates the rotary motion of the spindle e to the feed-rolls, and at the same time allows the angle made by the axes of these parts to be changed. The rotary motion of the lower feedroll is communicated to the upper by means of the eogwheel h that is fast to the shaft h, and is in mesh with the cog-wheel It, that is fast to the shaft h of the upper feedroll. The bearing-blocks h and h are held apart by a spiral spring, h that is seated between the parts, and the blocks h and h are also separated by a similar spring, h. The yoke j is made up of the cross-bar with downturned pins, 3', that pass through sockets in the crossbar on each standard, and bear upon the upper sides of the blocks 71" 75, respectively, in a vertical plane passing through the axes of the roller-shafts. The

lever j is pivoted to the upper edge of the standard K, and projects to the rear over the machine, crossing and resting upon the crossbar of the yokej, and it supports a weight, 7' by the movement of which along the lever the degree of pressure upon the upper roll may be adjusted.

Each of the feed rolls is formed in the shape of atruncated cone, or tapered, and in the periphery of each grooves are formed that register with each other when the rolls are in proper position to operate in the machine, and the line of the meeting faces of these t'eed rolls is in the plane of the axis of the wire and at about right angles to it as it is fed into the quill. The object of this peculiar form of feed-rolls is to enable Wires of different length to be fed through the machine at each revolution of the rolls without requiring their removal from the machine, the desired length of wire within the rolls being determined by sliding the frame along the machine until the upper grooves are in proper position to grasp the wire as it passes into the machine. The means for moving the rollerrframe have been already described.

The horn L is secured to the front of the standard K on the machine, and projects from it in asubstantially horizontal. plane, with its axis in the plane of the meeting faces of the feed-rolls, and within this horn is secured a quill, q, thatis clamped at the end, back of the rolls, in a standard, L, fast to the frame of the machine, and this quill has a central perforation, into which and through which the wire on is fed from any suitable reel or coil by the rotation of the feed-rolls. The horn L is sta tionary, and it supports the sleeve M, thatiits closely about it, extends a short distance beyond its outer end, and is removably attached to it by means of the clamp-screws M, whose inner ends take into the groove M, formed in the periphery of thehub M, that projects outward from the cog wheel M", and is held against endwise play between the back of the socket in the standard K and a shoulder formed on the horn. On the outside of the sleeve, and near the face of the standard K, is located the collar N, that is capable of a sliding move ment in and out along the sleeve, which is communicated to the collar by means of the heart-shaped cam D, fast to the shaft D, and thrusting against the frictionroll on the arm n, that is pivoted to the lower end of the upright lever n. This lever is pivoted to a projection on the face of the standard K, and branches at its upper end into arms with inturned lugs or pins that take into shoes of, that are held in the annular groove n in the periphery of the collar. This collar is held outward by means of the springs n, that are seated in sockets n in the collar and thrust against theend Wall of the socket and against the lug m, that projects outward from the sleeve and into the sockets, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

Bending mechanism.-The grip-rolls 0", that serve to steady the wire as it emerges from the front end of the quill, are supported on the front ends of the levers 0, that are seated in the grooves in the horn, and the guiderolls 0 0 are supported in the block attached to the front wall of the sleeve in precisely the position and by the means already fully described in my prior patent. The block 1) bears the bending-roll p and the adjustable cam-block p", and it is attached to and movable across the front end of the sleevein the manner and by the means already described in my prior patent. The connecting-rod N, extending from the front side of the collar through the opening in the block N that is fast to the sleeve, bears the adjustable pin N that projects downward through the outer end of the rod and slides upon the cam upon the block 10 In place of the guide-rolls, and serving equally well in combination with the bending-r011 as a means for bending the wire m, I make use of the quill-extension q, that is borne on a disk which is secured to the front end of the horn by means of screws. (Shown in Fig. 17.) This quill-extension q flares at the outer end into a trumpet-shaped outlet having a bending surface such as would be developed by the revoluti-on of one of the guide-rolls sidewise about a tangent'to the roll,and the opening through the quillextension is exactly in line of the opening through the quill. This new form of bending device is clearly shown in Figs. 16 and 17, the grip-rolls and their levers being left out to make the view clearer in Fig. 17.

Oscillating mechanismln my prior patent the oscillation of the sleeve and connected parts was accomplished by means of a sliding rack that is in mesh with a cog-wheel fast to the sleeve,and was moved by a connecting-rod from the upper end of the lever pivotally connected to the frame, and with its lower end bearing a pin that projected into a cam-groove in the cam-block fast to the camshaft. As the work to which this machine was particularly adapted-that is, the forming of hatwires-required hoops of varying droop, it was necessary that the extent of oscillation of the sleeve should be made adjustable, and to do this the fulcrum of the lever that moved the rack was made vertically adjustable. This caused the droop to vary not only in degree, but also somewhat in kind, for the reason that the movement of the fulcrum would change the length of the lower arm of the lever, and therefore the curvilinear movement of the pin in the cam would also change. The object of my improved device for oscillating the sleeve is to overcome this difficulty by keeping the distance between the fulcrum and the center of the pin that takes into the cam-groove constant while the extent of movement of the rack is made adjustable. To do this, the lower arm m of the lever m is pivoted to the frame of the machine by the pivot-pin m bends outward and then downward, and bears on the inner side of the lower end a pin, m that projects into the cam-groove D The arm m is held in line with the outer portion of the arm m by a tongue-nnd-groove connection between the meeting faces of the parts, and the clamp-screw m ,that projects through the slot m in the upper arm, holds the two from sliding on each other by means of the shoulder on the clamp-screw that overlies the edges of the slot. A pin on the upper end of the lever m projects intoa Vertical slot in the cross-arm of the sliding red at that is supported in standards on the frame and bears the rack m, that is in mesh with the cog-wheel M*, which is connected to the sleeve. By means of this device the upper arm of the lever may be changed in length, so as to change the extent of the sliding motion ofthe rod m without altering the length of the lower arm of the lever, and the shape of the cam to produce a desired result under the several changes may be exactly determined. camblock is made up of a removable shell, 8, in sections 8, that are locked together by projections 8 along the meeting faces, and are fast ened to the block by means of screws 5. This method of construction enables me to readily change the cam by removing one shell and fitstening in another with a different-shaped cam without removing the cam-shaft from the machine.

The devices for supporting and swinging the shear-arm and for operating the shears to cut off the wire are substantially the same as those shown and described in my prior pat- 'ent.

In order to readily determine whether a groove of given length on the feedrolls is in alignment with the axis of the quill, a scale, r, is marked on the top of the table A and an index or pointerm, overhangs the scale,which is properly marked to show the length of each groove, and by this device the rolls may be adjusted as to position and as to length ofgroove.

I claim as my invention-- 1. In combination with theframe ofawirebending machine, a feed-roll frame bearing feed-rolls that are adjustable across the path of the wire and the within-described driving mechanism, all substantially as described.

2. In combination with the frame ofa wirebending machine,and substantially the withindescribed driving mechanism,a feed roll frame bearing tapered rolls with a series of corresponding grooves of various lengths, and the feed-screw whereby the roll-frame is adjusted in the direction of the meeting line of the rolls, all substantially as described.

3. In combination, the frame of a wire bending machine, a longitudinally-adjustable roll-frame, the feed-rolls having corresponding peripheral grooves of various lengths, the rollbearings vertically adj ustable in the stand ards ofthe roll-frame, the roll-shaft connected to the sliding driving-spindle by a universal joint, the feedscrew, and the driving mechanism of shafts and intermeshed gear-wheels, substantially as described.

ft. In combination, the frame of a Wire-- The outer face ofthe bending machine, the feed-roll frame bearing feed-rolls adjustableacross the path of the wire, the roll-bearings borne in the standards, the springs whereby the rolls are held apart, the rollshafts with intermeshing gears, the shaft of one roll connected to the sliding driving spindleby a universal joint, and the driving mechanism, all substantially as described.

5. The combination of the frameof thewirebending machine, the feed-screw, the adjustable rollframe bearing the tapered rolls with corresponding peripheral grooves, and with their meeting faces in a line passing through the axis of the wire as it is fed through the machine, the springseparated roll-bearings, and the yoke, lever, and weight, whereby the grasp of the rolls upon the wire is adjusted, all substantially as described.

6. In combination, the frame of the wirebending machine used, the feed-screw, the adjustable roll-frame, the rolls mounted in the frame and having a series of corresponding grooves of various lengths, and the scale fast to the n1achine-frame and bearing marks, whereby the rolls may be placed with a groove of a given length in the plane of the axis of the wire in the quill, all substantially as described.

7. In combination with the cam-shaft D,

the cam-block D,having a removable sectional 9. In combination, in a Wire-bending machine, the camshaft D, the cam D, with camgroove D the extensible lever a with the arm m of fixed length, the extensible arm m the clampscrew m", the sliding rack in", engaged and moved by the upper arm of thelever, and the sleeve bearing the bending device, all substantially as described.

10. In combination with the sliding rack of the wire-bending machine, the cog-wheelsupported on the horn fast to the frame, and having a peripheral groove in its hub, and the sleeve carrying bending mechanism and arranged outside the horn and hub, and bearing clamp-screws that take into the groove in the hub, whereby the sleeveis detachably secured to the hub of the gear-wbeel of the oscillating mechanism, all substantially as described.

11. In combination with the oscillating gearwheel having the hub held against endwise play on the horn of the Wire-bending machine, the sleeve outside the horn carrying bending mechanism and detachably secured to the horn by clamp-screws taking into a groove in the hub, all substantially as described.

12. In combination, in a wire bending and forming machine, the horn L, the sleeve M, carrying bending mechanism, and with lugs extending into the spring-sockets in the collar N, the collar N, and the springs a, seated between the lugs and the end wall of the socket in the collar, all substantially as described.

I 13. In combination, in a Wire bending and forming machine of the within-described class, the horn bearing the quillextension with flaring outlet, and the oscillating sleeve bearing the bending-roll, all substantially as described.

\VILLIAM B. GURTISS.

Witnesses:

GEO. A. KEIMER, WARD WHITE. 

